Lawrence J. Cheskin, MD

Dr. Cheskin is Professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, Principal Investigator of the Mason Cohort: Health Starts Here study, and an adjunct professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.  He received his medical degree from Dartmouth, and postdoctoral training at Yale-New Haven Hospital.  

He has dedicated his career to research, education, and program building to enhance people’s diets and combat obesity. He founded the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center, a multidisciplinary clinical research and treatment program.  His work has impacted the problem of obesity through innovative treatment programs, and in community-based participatory research among the underserved in urban areas.  He also developed mHealth tailored to the behavioral characteristics of the recipient to combat obesity.  

He is the author of ~250 peer-reviewed journal articles and 8 books. 

Publication

• Has the prevalence of overweight, obesity and central obesity leveled off in the United States? Trends, patterns, disparities, and future projections for the obesity epidemic Y Wang, MA Beydoun, J Min, H Xue, LA Kaminsky, LJ Cheskin, International journal of epidemiology 49 (3), 810-23. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyz273
• Association between obesity and kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis Y Wang, X Chen*, Y Song, B Caballero, LJ Cheskin, Kidney international 73 (1), 19-33. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ki.5002586
• Body weight and health care among women in the general population KR Fontaine, MS Faith, DB Allison, LJ Cheskin, Archives of family medicine 7 (4), 381.
• Weight change in the first 2 months of a lifestyle intervention predicts weight changes 8 years later, JL Unick, RH Neiberg, PE Hogan, LJ Cheskin, GR Dutton, R Jeffery, et al. Obesity 23 (7), 1353-6. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.21112.
• Effectiveness of mobile health interventions on diabetes and obesity treatment and management: systematic review of systematic reviews, Y Wang, J Min, J Khuri, H Xue, B Xie, LA Kaminsky, LJ Cheskin JMIR mHealth and uHealth 8 (4), e15400. doi: 10.2196/15400.
• White paper AGA: POWER—practice guide on obesity and weight management, education, and resources A Acosta, S Streett, MD Kroh, LJ Cheskin, KH Saunders, M Kurian, Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology 15 (5), 631-649. e10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2016.10.023.
• A systematic review of childhood obesity in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region: prevalence and risk factors meta-analysis. NS Farrag, LJ Cheskin, MK Farag, Advances in pediatric research 4:8. doi: 10.12715/apr.2017.4.8.
• Tailored, interactive text messages for enhancing weight loss among African American adults: the TRIMM randomized controlled trial, M Lin*, Z Mahmooth*, N Dedhia, R Frutchey, CE Mercado*, DH Epstein, The American journal of medicine 128 (8), 896-904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.03.013  
• Appearance vs health as motivators for weight loss. LJ Cheskin, LF Donze, JAMA 286 (17), 2160-2160. doi:10.1001/jama.286.17.2160-JMS1107-4-1.
• Methods for evaluating natural experiments in obesity: a systematic review WL Bennett, RF Wilson, A Zhang, E Tseng, EA Knapp, H Kharrazi, Annals of internal medicine 168 (11), 791-800.https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-0309.

Research Interest: 

• Obesity
• Nutrition
• Behavior change
• Exercise

Honors and Awards

• Physician Nutrition Specialist Award, American Society for Clinical Nutrition, 2004-2006.
• Listee, Who’s Who in America, 2010-date.
• Top Doctors: U.S. News & World Report, 2012- date. http://health.usnews.com/top-doctors/lawrence-cheskin-gastroenterologist-103CC000307.
• Top Doctors: Baltimore Magazine, 2018, 2022, 2023. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/about/awards/baltimore-top-doctors/general-medicine.html.

Professional Affiliations/Memberships

• Fellow, American College of Physicians, (FACP)
• Fellow, American College of Gastroenterology (FACG)
• Fellow, The Obesity Society (FTOS);
• Chair, Clinical Affairs Committee, 2011- 2013.
• Graduate and Professional Education Committee, American Society for Nutrition, 2009 – 2012.

Degrees

MD, medicine, Dartmouth Medical School